Carr pushes for medical agreement in Syria

Foreign Minister Bob Carr has made his first representations to United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon following Australia's success in gaining a seat on the UN Security Council.

Senator Carr says he is seeking an agreement on medical aid in Syria that would see hospitals, ambulances and medical personnel protected.

He says he is hopeful Russia would support such an agreement, despite opposing other action in Syria.

Senator Carr has told Lateline that in the absence of a ceasefire or political negotiations, a medical agreement is needed.

"I've urged the UN to put to the fighting parties in Syria a proposition that they respect international law, existing international law, and agree on a medical pact that would enable the suffering, the dislocated people of Syria, to have access to the desperately needed medical care required as a result of this ruinous fighting," he said.

Following Australia's win of a non-permanent seat, Senator Carr said the win showed Australia was considered a good global citizen.

Australia received 140 votes, while Rwanda received 148, despite questions about its human rights record.

But Senator Carr says he does not believe the result shows the system is flawed.

"You're trying to say that somehow that's not a significant win for Australia because of a result in another constituency, namely Africa," he told Lateline.

"Now, I can't help you there. I can't help you. I'm not going, I'm not going to apologise for Australia's win because you're highlighting the dispute between Rwanda and the Congo and I don't see the logic in drawing me out on one to diminish the other."

'Realistic expectations'

Despite Senator Carr's push for a medical deal in Syria, experts say Australians need to have modest and realistic expectations about what can be achieved on the UN Security Council.

John Blaxland from the Australian National University says Senator Carr's aims are noble, but warned the Government to be realistic about what it can achieve in Syria and Afghanistan.

"Do we want to make a statement? Do we want to express a position about issues that aren't central to Australia's direct national interest," he said.

He says the veto rights of countries like China and Russia are limiting.

"The veto is a significant factor in what the Security Council can and can't do," he says.

"We've seen that in the last few months over Syria in the way China and Russia have responded, so there is a limitation to what we can do."

Lobby groups say Australia should use its seat on the UN Security Council to protect human rights.

Phil Lynch from the Human Rights Law Centre says Australia should be a voice for small and developing nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The time's come to walk the talk on this," he said.

"Australia has a critical role to play in the region and we have a critical role therefore to play in ensuring the promotion of human rights in the region and also accountability for human rights violations in the region."

'Gratifying result'

Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Richard Marles met with dozens of foreign ministers leading up to the vote.

He says the result was a vote of confidence for Australia.

"It was a very gratifying result," he said.

"This is really a vote of confidence in the global face of Australia today.

"[It is] those who are serving in Afghanistan, it is the police who are serving around the world, it is the aid workers who are doing work in the Pacific, in Africa, in Asia, and this really represents the modern global face of Australia and yesterday that was wholeheartedly endorsed."

Mr Marles hit back at criticism that Australia's aid program in Africa had been shaped around the bid.

"I think going out and presenting our credentials to the world has been a learning experience, but we have not been out there putting aid into various places in order to win a vote," he said.

"What we're doing in Africa, for example, is critically important in the context of a continent in which the Australian private sector is deeply engaged.

"Mineral resource development is one of the real stories of the economic emergence of Africa and it is Australian companies who are very significantly doing that."